


Not Your Fault

by metalucie



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28849974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metalucie/pseuds/metalucie
Summary: Emu gets a nightmare in the middle of the night and visits Taiga.
Relationships: Hanaya Taiga/Houjou Emu
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Not Your Fault

**Author's Note:**

> Need more TaigaEmu content, gotta provide the food myself if no one else does 
> 
> also yeah I'm doing the nightmare trope again what of it
> 
> Sorry it's short, it's the best I could do ;w;

_Drowning._

_I'm drowning._

_I can't... breathe..._

_I'm thrashing in the water but I can't rise up to the surface. Something's pulling at my legs._

_I can't make out the figure but I see red eyes, looking at me with malice._

_The water is ice cold. Electrifying my skin._

_I feel like my lungs are about to rupture... A hand pulls my arms and then another covers my mouth._

_I have no choice but to accept my fate-_

Emu jolts awake and sits up, gasping softly. He looks around in the dark, the moonlight peering into his room. He touches his face, feeling for any moisture, and to his relief, none was dripping from his body aside from his own cold sweat. He slides out of bed and picks up his cell phone, dialing the one person he wouldn't expect to dial this late at night. 

_Ring, ring. Ring, ring._

"Ugh.... Hanaya speaking." 

"U-um... Taiga?" 

"Ex-Aid?" Emu could envision Taiga rubbing his eyes and grumbling. "What are you doing, calling me this late at night? Did something happen?" 

"I... It's embarrassing, but I don't want to wake up Parado and Graphite over it... I got a nightmare." 

Emu could hear Taiga grumbling some more before letting out a sigh. "Come over." Emu feels his face panic but beam with happiness. "Thank you, Taiga! I'll repay you for disturbing you..."   
  
"Shut up, you can do that later, now hurry up or I'll lock the door on you. Oh yeah, when you get here, lock the back door for me. I unlocked it for you." 

Emu hears Taiga hang up the phone and he sighs in relief. He puts on his jacket and tiptoes out his room. He sees Parado sleeping in Graphite's arms, his head on his chest. He quietly goes to the countertop of his connected kitchen to write a note when he hears a voice perk up. 

"You don't need to write a note. I will let Parado know where you went if you don't come back." Emu turns to face the human dragon who was looking back at him sleepily with a smile on his face. 

"Ah.. Thank you, Graphite!" Emu bowed with a whisper. "I hope I didn't wake you up..." 

"No trouble. I overheard your talk with Snipe. Have fun~", Graphite said with a teasing voice, running his fingers through Parado's hair. Emu could feel his face get warm as he saw Parado shift in his sleep, rubbing his face against Graphite's chest. He smiles at the pair and quietly leaves his apartment. 

* * *

Emu reaches Taiga's hospital at the back door, fumbling with the doorknob. _Being a rundown, abandoned hospital and keeping the inside clean, you'd think to renovate what's broken, Taiga...,_ Emu thought to himself. After finally opening the door, he quietly steps in and locks the door as Taiga requested and looks around. There's a dim glow of the moonlight streaming through the windows of the hospital and the exit sign, illuminating his path to the stairs leading up to Taiga's home above the hospital. He pushes the door with ease and locks the door behind him and looks around Taiga's home. It was marginally cleaner and in order than the hospital below. He looks down the hall as he took off his shoes and walks over to the only room with its door open. 

He peeks in and sees, with the moonlight glowing in, Taiga on his bed, his eyes closed and softly breathing, noticing that Taiga had left room for Emu to sit down or lay down on. Emu enters the room and gently closes the door before he sits down by Taiga. Taiga opens his eyes slightly, the weight shift waking him up. 

"Oh, it's just you. Lay down with me, Hojo." Taiga reaches for Emu's hand and tugs him to lay down. Reluctantly, Emu lays down on his side, facing Taiga. He studies Taiga's face and observes his features. His face was tired but his lashes made him look a lot more handsome than he usually seems to be in the daytime. There were two moles on his face, one on the bridge of his nose and one on his cheek, under his eye. Emu couldn't help but drift his eyes to Taiga's lips, soft and slightly parted. 

"You know it's not nice to stare, Hojo." Emu averted his gaze away from Taiga's lips and made eye contact with Taiga. "Tell me what the dream was about," Taiga said, pulling his blanket over him and Emu. 

"Well... I remember Parado telling me he kept seeing visions of himself drowning during the time of Cronus being active with _Kamen Rider Chronicle._ He said the feeling of fear was similar to drowning and when I fought him to make him understand life and death, his fear amplified...when I essentially killed him, he felt like he had no choice but to take in the water as if his lungs had ruptured." 

Taiga was intently studying Emu as he retold the story when he fought Para-DX to gain his trust. 

"My nightmare was me drowning. You could say it was exactly like what Parado had to go through but in a dream...," Emu's voice faltered, feeling immense guilt wash over him. Parado and Emu might be on good terms now, but he still couldn't help but feel bad for resorting to traumatic measures to make Parado understand. 

Emu could feel a hand on his face, gentle and careful as if he were fragile. "Come closer, Emu," Taiga whispered Emu's name, Emu scooting closer to Taiga, their bodies touching. Taiga's face was soft, smiling. It was strange to see Taiga with a sincere and kind emotion instead of his cold, bitter attitude or his snarky and challenging smirk. 

"Emu. It's not your fault. You knew what you had to do. We were all struggling to beat Cronus's ass, especially when your source of true power was Parado. Don't sweat it. Knowing how he is, he's past the point of holding a grudge and has completely forgiven you." 

Emu put his hand over Taiga's and held it close against his face. "I know... But still..." Emu falters again, still frowning at the nightmare. Taiga pulls Emu's face closer by the chin and deeply kisses Emu, feeling the other male kiss back willingly, almost hungrily. It had been a while since they'd seen each other and Emu was craving affection. Taiga pulls Emu closer by the waist and deepens the kiss, pushing his tongue past Emu's lips, Emu allowing the gesture. 

The feeling of drowning dissolved from Emu's chest. He could feel himself breaking the surface of the water. Taiga had pulled him out of the feeling.

When Emu pulls back, he presses the side of his face against Taiga's chest. 

"Do you feel better now?" Emu's heart flutters when he hears care in Taiga's voice. "Y-yeah. I do...Can I stay here for tonight? Graphite has me covered." 

Taiga scoffs and holds Emu close to him. "Idiot. Of course, you can. Now sleep, you got work in the morning." Taiga closes his eyes, his face reverting to the usual straight face. Emu reaches up and kisses Taiga on the cheek, smiling. "Love you, Taiga," he says sleepily.

"Love you too, Emu," Taiga softly says before the two fell asleep. 


End file.
